Blackout
by ConscienceCoward
Summary: Marie just moved to town and ruined her rep by saying that Zim is an alien. Dib falls for her but is she really all that she seems?
1. The New Girl and Her Strangeness

Hello People!! This is my first fanfic, but don't take it as an excuse to go easy on me. Be as truthful as possible. Thanx!

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**Chapter 1: The New Girl and Her Strangeness**

The bell rang and Mz. Bitters' class went silent immediately. Mz. Bitters stood in front of the class with a small girl beside her.

"Class, we have a new student," growled Mz. Bitters. "Her name is Marie." The small girl waved. "Say what you will now; afterwards, I don't want to hear anything from you." Mz. Bitters stalked off to her desk.

Marie just stood there for a moment, staring around the room. By this time Zim had lost interest, but Dib was looking intently at the girl. She was short for her age, but didn't seem bothered by that fact at all. She had strange, bright blue eyes and blond hair tyed up in a short ponytail. She wore blue jeans, a red shirt, and black shoes. After a couple of moments of staring at the students, she looked at her feet, waved again, and whispered a "hi" and then went to her desk at the back of the class. Dib had a strange need to say hi back, but he shook the feeling away. After giving Zim a quick glare, he turned back to Mz. Bitters who had started a long-winded lecture on doom.

A couple of hours later, the bell rang again, this time for lunch. The children gratefully left the classroom. Marie was lagging behind, looking a bit excited.

"Wait until she sees what's for lunch! She won't be so eager then!!" thought Dib, who was lagging behind as well.

The two entered the cafeteria together, no words between them. Marie glanced at the lunch menu and then scanned the lunchroom, still looking excited. She eventually found what she was looking for and headed in the opposite direction of Dib's always-empty table. Hungry, but unwilling to eat mayonnaise and corn, Dib went to his table and put down his head.

"I AM NO ALIEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Dib shot up at the sound of his archenemy's familiar scream. He looked over at Zim's empty table to find it not so empty. Marie was sitting there looking up at Zim standing on the table. She looked down and said some thing incomprehensible from where Dib was sitting, but from the way people around her gasped, it must have been something bad.

"Not another freak! EVERYONE STAY AWAY FROM HER!!!!!! It's like a girl Dib!!!!!!!" some kid yelled at the top of his lungs.

Everyone simultaneously rushed away from her and started whispering. Marie got up, and, tears streaming down her face, ran out of the cafeteria. Soon after, everything turned back to normal. Dib, feeling a sudden urge he couldn't resist, rushed after Marie. By the time he got to the hall, she had already rounded a corner.

"I wonder what she said to make them all act like that?" Dib thought, running after her. She had just run out the front doors. Mustering all the strength he could, Dib put an extra spurt of speed into his run and headed after her. "Why am I even following her?" he thought as he burst outside. The brightness of the sun caught Dib off guard, so it took him a minute to adjust to the light and find Marie. Finally, he saw her.

Marie was sitting on the edge of the skool's front yard with her knees up to her chin. She was still crying, though not as hard and had found the time to pull out her Ipod and stuff the music in her ears, shutting out the rest of the world.

Dib walked slowly next to her and sat down. For a moment, it seemed as if she didn't notice him, but, turning down the music, she turned to him and said, "Come to make fun of me some more?"

Dib was taken aback by these words. They were so unexpected from a girl like her. He was halfway expecting her to cry harder and run away or something. He didn't think that she would glare at him in such intensity that he could burn with it.

His silence just made her angrier. She turned away and was about to turn her music back up when she finally heard his voice. She wasn't expecting a voice like this, with kindness and understanding woven into the words; she thought the boy would call her a freak or weirdo or something. It took her a while to actually comprehend the words he was saying. Finally, she heard him:

"I know how you feel."

"How would you know how I feel?" she retorted back, determined to seem tough even though she was still crying.

"I'm Dib"

She was about to say, "So what do I care?" but then she remembered what the boy in the cafeteria said. She looked down at her toes and turned off her Ipod. "Why do they make fun of you?" she asked. "What did that boy mean by 'a girl Dib'?"

"Well it kind of depends on what you said 'cause I at the opposite end of the cafeteria and didn't hear what made them all gasp."

"I said 'You have to be an alien. You look just like one'"

Dib just gaped at her. For so long, he's been trying to make people see that Zim was an alien and here was probably the only person in the world that thought so, too.

"You believe, too?" he gasped.

"Of course I do! Who doesn't? The only people who don't think there are things out there that are smarter than us are so paranoid that they can't see one even if they were slapped in the face by it!"

"I know, right?" Dib smiled at her.

Marie smiled back. Maybe things will go right for her at last.

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So what do you think? Please review!!!! Thanx once again!!!!!! 


	2. Things will be different

Yo!! What is up my homie g's? Thanx for the nice reviews, even though there was only THREE of them!! (inward growl)……….. Oh, really quick info for you guys! I AM A GIRL!!! I just had to say that since my name is mostly used for guys. (suddenly creepy happy) Anywhos, hope you enjoy the next chapter!!!!!!!!!

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Chapter 2: Things will be different 

Marie was walking home from Dib's house late that night. After skool, they went to his house and talked about Zim and their past lives. Well, actually Dib talked; Marie was mostly a listener that night. According to Dib, Zim had been on Earth for about 5 years and ever since he had arrived, Zim had been trying plan after plan to take over the world. Dib also explained that ever since he was little, people had made fun of him because he believed in mystical beings and has a big head.

"He must be really paranoid about that, the way he screamed about it afterwards," Marie thought. "He's nice though."

Marie had just arrived at her new home. It was small and a bit shabby but it was all her uncle could afford right now. She took the key out of the secret compartment in the lawn gnome by the door.

"I wonder if Uncle is home," she pondered as she unlocked the door.

"I guess so," she mumbled, looking around the living room. The room was a mess, beer bottles on the floor, the coffee table flipped over, and a massive pile of clothes on the couch. It wasn't until it moved that Marie realized that the pile of clothes was actually her uncle. Ever since that terrible day two months ago, her uncle had been carting Marie and her brothers all over the country and coming home drunk. Marie had been so concerned about the Zim business that she had forgotten to come home to cook dinner for her brothers. Remembering what she was supposed to do, Marie rushed down the hall to her brothers' room. John and Troy had to share a room now, something they hadn't done since third grade. When Marie came in, she was relieved to see both boys asleep in bed and unharmed. Watching them now, Marie felt somewhat like their mother. But then again, she was kind of their mother for the past year. Packing their lunches, making them dinner, making sure they bathe and go to bed on time; Marie respected and felt bad for her mother now that she had to do her mom's job. Marie started crying but didn't notice until she came to her room.

"Suck it up, Marie," she told herself. "What's happened, happened. There's nothing you can do now." This just made her cry harder. "It was all my fault!!" she wailed, throwing herself on to the bed with her face down in her pillow. "I wish I wasn't born like this!!" She sobbed even harder. It took what felt like an hour to finally calm change and go to bed.

"Things'll be different this time," she told herself.

"Things'll be different this time," Dib told himself.

Dib was lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. He was referring to the time he thought that there was another human who believed him about Zim. It turned out that she was an alien and already knew about Zim. Dib just hoped that Marie wasn't like Tak.

Dib then started thinking about earlier that night. Now that he thought about it, Marie hardly said anything. All she said was that she moved here a week ago but it took awhile to find a house. After that she only agreed with Dib or asked a question.

"I'll apologize to her tomorrow," Dib said.

The next day Dib apologize to Marie but she said it was alright.

"I learned a lot last night, anyway."

Weeks went by and things were looking up for Marie. Her uncle had gotten a job and was drinking less. She didn't make any other except for Dib but she was okay with that. Finally, summer came. No more skool, homework, or doom lectures. But with more time on his hands, Zim could come up with more elaberate and bigger plans. And that's what he did.

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What do you think. Not my best chapter. Chapter 4 is my favorite so far.

Manly announcer dude: Stay tuned, next time—

Me: Hey!! Go away!!! You'll ruin it!!( Zaps him with a lazer)

Manly announcer dude: ouch! (Zaps me with a laser. Giant war starts between us.)

Me: see ya!! Don't forget to review!!!!! (kills about 15 dude-mans)


	3. Marie's Secret

Hola!!!! I hope you guys like this chapter better than Chapter 2. I don't like that one either, but o well. This one is a really good one in my opinion but I will let you decide!!!

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**Chapter 3: Marie's Secret**

It was the first day of summer but Marie was still asleep and enjoying the fact that she can sleep in for the next two months. She had the phone next to her, having fallen asleep while she was talking to Dib last night. Later that day, they were goring to go to the movies.

The phone rang, startling Marie awake. She jumped up karate style but soon realized that nothing was attacking her. She picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she yawned.

There was no response.

"Hello?" she repeated forcefully.

A few beeps could be heard on the other end of the line and then a high, squeaky voice answered her.

"Hi!" it said.

"Who is this?"

"I'm GIR! How're you?"

"Uh…fine, I guess. Why are you calling me?"

"I dunno."

Okay, then. Bye." Marie reached to hang up the phone.

"WAIT!!" GIR yelled.

"_What?_" Marie groaned.

"Listen to this!" GIR started to make beats al gangsta style. Marie held the phone at arms length, a confused look on her face.

"Alright, GIR. That's long enough. Hang up now!" said a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Ok, Buh-Bye!" yelled GIR.

The line went dead.

"Now that was weird," Marie said, hanging up the phone. "Oh, well."

Marie looked at the clock and almost screamed. The movie started in 3o minutes and Dib will be here in 15!! She ran to her closet, grabbed the clothes she picked out last night and ran to the shower.

Ten minutes later she was out of the shower and getting dressed. She had just finished blow-drying her hair when she heard the doorbell ring.

There was rustling and banging on the other side of the door that Dib was waiting patiently in front of. After a minute or two, the door finally opened. Marie was wearing a dark blue blouse and a long black skirt with sequins spread everywhere; she was beautiful. Dib felt like trash wearing his usual clothes.

"Oh my God, you got me chocolate!" Marie practically screamed, referring to the box Dib held in his hands. She almost jumped on him with such joy. "Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!!!" she said really fast.

"No problem," Dib gasped through her rib-breaking hug. "Shouldn't we get going?"

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot!" she said and jumped off him. "Let's go!"

After the movie, Dib and Marie were heading back to Marie's house and quoting from the film.

" 'Sell your body fro GOAT!'" Marie said in a growl of a voice completely different from her own.

" 'Chicken Noodle Anti Soup!!'" Dib yelled. They were laughing so hard at each other that they had to stop and when they did, Dib fell to the ground because his gut hurt that badly. After a minute or two, the started moving again. When they got to her house, Marie turned to Dib.

"Thank you, Dib, for everything! This was the best day I've had in a long time!" She gave him a hug not unlike the one she gave him earlier. Then she did something Dib had wanted her to do for a while now: she kissed him. Dib blushed so mush that his head looked like a giant red apple. When she stopped and looked at him, she just laughed; he looked so funny.

"Bye Dib. I'll see you tomorrow!" she said and turned toward the door.

"Bye," he said. He was still blushing. Marie just giggled and waved she was already inside.

"See ya," she whispered and closed the door. Dib just stared at the blue wood, wanting to go inside and talk to her some more but he knew he couldn't do that. He turned around to head for home.

Just when he had reached the sidewalk, Dib heard Marie scream. He spun around and ran to the door. He opened it and rushed inside. Marie was standing at the far side of the living room, white faced and against the wall. At the other end of the room, sitting on the couch, was Zim. On the floor in between the two, GIR was break dancing for some reason.

"Greetings, Dib-beast. I doubt I will be able to get rid of you, so I won't try. Besides, I think you ought to hear this," Zim said calmly.

"What are you doing here, Zim?" Dib asked, walking over to Marie. As soon as he reached her, she grabbed his hand and hid behind him.

"You'll find out shortly."

Marie whimpered and whispered to Dib, "Ask him if he knows where my uncle and brothers are."

"I heard you," said Zim "and I don't know where your filthy relatives are. I've only been in this room and arrived shortly before you. But we have more important matters to deal with at the moment."

"Can you at least get that thing to stop break dancing? It's getting annoying," Dib said with a growl hidden in his voice.

"GIR, come here," ordered Zim.

"_Yes, My Master!_ Wheeeee!!" The little robot ran to the seat next to Zim.

"Would you care to sit down?" Zim asked politely as if this was his house and he had had them over for tea.

"No. Just get on with it!" Dib said.

"Alright, then." Zim reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. Seeing this, Marie squeezed Dib's hand tighter. "Ah, I see you recognize this, human-stink."

"N-n-no, I don't," Marie said shakily.

"Well, then, lets relapse, shall we?" Zim said, grinning at how frightened Marie was of him. "Remember your first day here, the way you accused me of being an alien? Well, I'll admit to you I am an alien," (Dib silently cursed for not having his tape recorder with him) "but I am only telling you this so you won't have to wonder about your fate any longer."

"What do you mean?" Marie said barely over a whisper; she sounded really frightened now.

"Perhaps we ought to let the Dib-thing read it out loud for us." Zim threw the note at Dib's chest. Dib grabbed it quickly; Marie had finally taken her death grip off Dib's hand and had slid down to the floor, sobbing. Dib didn't notice; He was curious as to what Zim meant and what was written in the letter.

" 'Dear Alien,'" Dib read, " 'My name is Marie. If you aren't an alien then I am dredfully sorry and I won't bother you again. But if you are an alien, then I vow, right here, right now, that I…" his voice trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Zim, noticing this, completed it for him. "..That I volunteer my mind, body and services for you to use in any way you wish so that it will help you on you mission."

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Yay!!!! Big suspense!!!!!!!!!!! Don't for get to review!!! 


	4. Marie's Fate

Hey everyone!!!!

To answer your question Dp-shrine-in-closet-girl, Marie is human. You will have to read on to find out why she wants to help Zim.

Anyway, here is my personally favourite chapter. Hope you like it too.

Chapter 4: Marie's Fate

Dib couldn't believe his ears. How could a girl as kind and gentle as Marie write something like that? It didn't make sense, but everything led to the same conclusion: The letter was in Marie's handwriting, and even if this were a trick, why would Marie be sobbing on the floor? If this weren't true, she would be standing next to Dib and denying it. Dib had seen her when she was angry or wrongly accused of something and when that happened she could be truly scary, even if she's the smallest 15-year-old he knows. But two thoughts were the most vivid in his mind. One: Marie doesn't break her vows; she always mad a big deal about that. This meant that no matter how much she didn't want to, she would have to do whatever Zim said. And two, and this one struck him the hardest, Marie betrayed him. She didn't tell him at all. Now that he thought of it, though, on the first night she was here, every time he told her of him beating Zim or saving the Earth she scowled slightly.

Dib dropped the letter and ran. Marie called him as he went out the front door, but he ignored her. He just ran and ran until he was almost four blocks away. There, he flopped down on the bench he stopped beside and sobbed.

"How could she?" he whispered.

Marie had stopped crying by this time. She wanted to go after Dib but she knew it was no use. Instead, she was looking around the house for any sign of her brothers and uncle. Zim was still in the living room, waiting for her. When she got to the kitchen she noticed a small, white piece of paper on the round breakfast table in the corner. The room was dark but she could still read the not written on it. She noticed it was in her uncle's handwriting.

_Marie,_

_We've left. Nothing good can stay very long when you are around._

_DON"T look for us._

Beer stains were all over the note.

"You drunk bastard!" Marie yelled, stomping her foot. She would have started crying again but she had to stay strong. She still had to speak with Zim. Marie took a deep breath and went back to the living room. Zim was still sitting on the couch with GIR beside him.

"Well?" she asked, holding up her hands.

"Well, what, human-stink?" Zim asked.

"Don't call me that!!" Marie shouted. "You should know my name by now!! It's Marie! Marie!!"

"Fine, _Marie_-stink. Well, what?" Zim repeated, rolling his eyes.

"Well, what do you want with me? Are you here to take me away or did you show up just to ruin things for me?"

"Both, actually."

"Well, let me go get my stuff." Marie started off toward her room.

"Wait-wait-wait," Zim said quickly, jumping in front of her. "You aren't going to fight or refuse to go with me, the incredible Zim?"

"No, I am not," Marie said, tears welling up in her eyes. "If you haven't noticed, my uncle isn't here and I can't pay for a house, I don't even have a job! Plus, I vowed to you, so no matter what, I have to listen to you now, don't I? Now, let me get my things and then we'll leave." Marie walked around Zim and went to her room.

No matter how much he didn't want to admit it, and he _really_ did not want to, Zim had to admire her attitude. He waited patiently while Marie packed her backpack. GIR had started break dancing again, but Zim ignored him. Finally, she was finished.

"How are we going to get to where ever you live?" she asked, repositioning her bag on her shoulder.

"Like this," Zim said and shoved a wristband- type thing on her arm. He pressed a few buttons and then stood back. Marie had a weird feeling, as if she was being stretched, but before she had time to yell out, she felt normal again.

"Where am I?" she asked herself, looking around at her surroundings with wide eyes. She was in a large, circular room with burgundy wires of all shapes and sizes all over the walls, ceiling, and even most of the floor. On the platform was a bed, a small wooden dresser, and a weird alien control panel. Marie set down her bag and walked over to the controls. There was writing on the screen but Marie couldn't understand any of it. She leaned in so close to the screen that her nose was almost an inch away from it. Then she started looking around at the buttons and levers. She was about to push one when she heard a yell.

"Don't put your filthy earth-hands on those!!!"

Marie shot up and turned around faster than was humanly possible. Zim was standing there, scowling and glaring at Marie.

"Sorry," she mumbled and looked down at her feet. They seemed to be becoming her favourite body part.

"It's alright," he mumbled, still a little bit angry. "This will be where you stay.

"What are those symbols on the screen?" Marie asked curiously, raising her head.

"It's Irken writing. Why do you ask?" Zim demanded, sounding suspicious.

"I was just wondering. Would it be possible for you to teach me how to read them?"

"It would be nigh impossible!" Marie looked back down, disappointed. Zim looked at her somewhat sympathetically. "But it would be a bit easier if you actually understood what I was talking about if you knew how. I'll teach you some of it in my spare time, but you have to swear that you wn't use it against me!"

"I swear!!" Marie said happily.

"You swear what?" Zim asked, making sure that there would be no loopholes.

"I swear I won't use any of the knowledge you teach me against you," Marie said in a sort of monotone voice.

"Good. Now, back to what I was saying earlier. This is where you'll stay. You are not to mess with any of the controls. When I can trust you, I'll let you go up to the house during the day but until then, you are are to stay in here. Any questions?"

"Um, yeah, three. Where will I wash my clothes?"

"you will give your clothes to GIR once a week for him to take to the dry cleaners."

"Alright. Where will I bathe and use the bathroom?"

"Here's a liquid-free cleaner to use," Zim said, handing Marie a spray bottle. "And there is a body-fluid disposal unit over there." He pointed to the far side of the room where there was a toilet looking thing. "Now your last question so I can get back to leave."

"What'll I eat?"

"Food will be brought down to you by GIR. I hope you'll won't mind Irken food," he said, smirking.

"I don't think I will. I've never had it before so I can't tell you if I'd mind or not."

"Well, here's your first Irken meal," he said and threw a container at her. "I'll be going now; I have a lot of work to do." Zim stalked off.

Marie went and sat on her new bed and looked at the package in her hands. She pulled out a stick and started sucking on it. The Irken food was really good. In fact, it was far better than any Earth food she had ever tasted. Maybe it would be all right down here, after all.

Yay!!!! I am so jealous of Marie. She gets to have Irken food!!! Wah!!!!!!!!!!!!

O well. Hoped you liked that one. Don't forget to review!!!!!!


	5. A Unknown Substance and Life

Hi. Sorry for the delay. Ummmmmmm...yeah. I would like to first mention some people who have comented a lot and say thank you. **Merdina** (isn't it the best side?), **DP-shrine-in-closet-girl** (you shall find out in this chapter...), **emochild 0.o** ( it is germ spray. I love the irken food too!), **Nikooru-chan** (Thank you for saying that to ZaDR. Glad you like it. I'll be sure to proof read better from now on.), **MadeUpFigment** (again, sorry about the typos. I'll try not to use "!"s any more than I have to. By the way, what are these "Mary Sue/Dib" stories you keep mentioning?)

Alright everyone. Here's Chapter Five. I warn you though, it's pretty long. Hope you like it!

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**Chapter 5: An Unknown Substance and Life**

Two weeks went by and Dib and Marie were about as different as night and day. Dib was completely miserable. Ever since that night, he was depressed and hadn't spoken a single word. He would walk around outside every now and then but this was very rare. On his outings, he didn't see any sign of Marie even though he wasn't really looking for her. The entire thown hadn't even noticed that her and her family had disappeared; they probably wouldn't care if they knew anyway.

Marie, on the other hand, was actually enjoying herself. She wasn't allowed upstairs in the house yet, but Zim hadn't started any experiments either, and Marie had a good time with GIR. The little robot would stay almost all day, occasionally in a weird green dog costume, and they would watch The Scary Monkey Show together.

Marie was in her room one day, watching TV with GIR when she suddenly heard a noise behind her.

"Hello, Marie-thing," Zim said.

"Hola, Zim," Marie said without turning around.

"Hola? What is this 'hola'? Zim demands to know."

"Oh, it's just a Spanish greeting." Marie still hadn't turned around. "Nothing important, expecially since you're going to take over the world."

"You think I'll conquer the Earth?" After being here for five years, he was starting to lose hope that he would.

"Well, duh! Humans are so stupid. They deserve to be enslaved and junk. And if they aren't soon, they'll destroy the Earth by the end of next year. So either way you'll end up conquering it."

"Is that why you volunteered to--"

"Yeah," she cut in quickly, not wanting to talk about it. She still felt guilty about what she did to Dib.

Zim looked admiringly at the back of her head. After a moment, though, he realized what he was doing and slapped himself. "I need to take some of your blood," he said, looking bashfully at the floor.

"Alright." Marie pushed back her sleeve and held out her arm, all the while still staring at the monkey head on the screen.

Zim took out his needle and took a little bit of Marie's blood. After shuddering at the monkey, he left and went down to his lab. He inserted the blood into his control panel and waited for the examination process to be completed. After a few moments, Zim heard a ding and the results came up on the screen. Zim had put information from a human science book from a Prof. Membrane store into the computer so that he would be able to identify the substances in the blood that he took from random humans. What he saw made him gasp. Prof. Membrane's book had every substance know to man (and it better have every substance known to man because that book was huge! It took him four damn hours just to bring it down here and then over a week to record _half _of it into the computer's database.) and his computer had all of the alien elements known to Irk and other planets recorded in it but there on the screen was an unknown substance!

"Computer, run it through again. How can there be an unknown substance when we have over 100 million _types_ of substance?" Zim was starting to get angry.

After another few moments, there was one more ding and the same results came up on screen. Zim growled and stomped out of the lab and went to Marie's room. She and GIR were still watching TV. Hearing his boots slam on the ground, Marie turned to find the Irken with so much anger in his face that it looked like he could and would destroy anyone or anything that annoyed him in the slightest. Not wanting anything bad to happen that Zim might regret, Marie turned to GIR.

"Hey, GIR, why don't you go to Krazy Taco and--"

"TACOS!" GIR screamed and ran to the elevator. Marie then shut off the the TV and turned back to Zim as it made it's way up to the ceiling. Marie decided not to speak just in case what she said angered him even more. After a few moments of staring at each other, Zim spoke.

"Did you know that there was an unknown substance in your blood stream?"

Marie looked down. "Yes," she mumbled. She wasn't sure if she could talk to him about that.

"Why, then, did you not tell the Greatness that is ZIM?" His anger was ebbing away. For some strange reason, he couldn't stay angry with her.

"You didn't ask," Marie said, still looking down.

Zim sat down in front of her and put his hand under her chin and made her face look up at him. He saw tears in her eyes. She looked deep into Zim's and saw no anger now, only sympathy and a wanting to understand.

"It's kindof a long story if you're willing to listen to a strange girl's sad life."

"I've got all the tim on Irk."

Marie smiled and wiped away her tears. She took a deep breath and started her tale.

"When I was born, blood was taken from me and they found the same unknown substance that you found but I wasn't sick or abnormally healthy. I seemed like a normal baby. The doctors wanted to do tests on me to see what the substance did for my body but my parent's didn't want that. The doctors were going to do the tests with or without my parents' permission though, so they took me and ran. They sold the car and changed their names. On my first birthday, we had finally found a small town that didn't ask too many questions and we settled down there. My first birthday present was my name." Marie laughed. "Imagine, going a year without a name. But that's what happened. Anyway, afterwards, we lived a normal life. My parents both had jobs and were respected members of the community. When I was three, they went out to dinner for their anniversery and left me with a babysitter. At about eight, she put me in bed. Earlier, she had told me about werewolves, so I was a bit scared since it just happened to be a full moon. I remember asking her to leave the door open and the hall light on. She just laughed and closed the door. I heard a click and knew she locked it. I was so scared and so angry. And then, all I can remember for a while is black. The next thing I knew was Mom and Dad coming home and I was sitting on a pile of rubble. I found out later from my mom that that was all that was left of my room. We moved again the day after." Marie sighed. "That was my first Blackout." She looked back at Zim's huge, crimson eyes; they were so beautiful.

"Go on," he whispered, staring back into her mysterious blue eyes. He had never seen eyes so bright.

"After we finished moving," Marie started again, "My parents decided to home school me and keep me away from things that might anger and frighten me too much. They figured out that the unknown substance must cause the Blackout whenever my emotions run too high. So that's how we lived. We had moved into the same town that my uncle lived in. A year afterwards, John and Troy were born. My uncle had even gotten married. Things went great for years until last year. My younger brothers got to go to public schools and went to sleepovers. I was still being home schooled and didn't have a single friend. I had a huge fight with my parents. John and Troy were at my uncle's house that day. I was talking to my parents when the subject of John's grades came up and how he might not be allowed to go to his friend's house that weekend. For some reason, that really ticked me off. I can the fight in my head. I was standing at one end of the table and Mom and Dad were at the other end. 'How come I can't go to a friend's house?' I had yelled. Instead of answering me, my dad yelled back, 'Calm down, young lady, or you're grounded!' 'HA!' I shouted, three times as loud. 'Grounded from what? I am fourteen years old and haven't had a friend over or been to a friend's house EVER! John is TEN and he goes to a friend's house EVERY weekend _plus_ he goes to a real school! I'm in this house os damn much that I don't even know the neighbor's name!' I was so angry, so furious." Marie had started crying and put her face in her hands.

"And then," she gasped in between sobs, "I can't remember anything! I had had another Blackout! Wh-when I came to, I was lying down and looking up at a a sparkling blue sky. I-I sat up and I was sitting on top of my house! I destroyed my entire house! And-and when I looked behind me, I saw my parents. They were all mangled up and-and... Oh God, Zim!" She looked up at his face once more, tears streaming down her face. "I killed them! I killed my parents!" She got up and ran over to the bed where she threw herself face down and sobbed harder than she ever sobbed before.

Zim Had a strange mix of emotions. He felt pity and greif for the human lying before him. Imagine! Zim, the mighty Irken invader, feeling pity for a filthy _hu_-man. He almost laughed at the thought and he was very close, too, because he also felt giddy and happy. He had found the almost perfect weapon for destroying the humans! He just needed to find a way to control it...

Seeing that Marie wasn't calming down, Zim decided to play along. _After all,_ he thought, _she could be usefull if she trusts me over the Dib..._ Zim leaned over and started patting Marie on the back and whispering that it would be all right. He didn't know if it would work; he had never done it before or seen it done before, but it felt like the right thing to do. Eventually, She stopped crying as hard and looked up from her pillow at him. Her cheeks were tear stained and puffy, but but she looked at him with such big eyes.

"Thank you, Zim. You know for listening." She gave him a weak smile. "I, um, I think I'll just lie down here a while and get some rest."

"'Kay. I'll be back in the lab. Send GIR when he comes back if you need me." Zim turned around and went down the elevator shaft. As soon as he got to the lab, he went to the computer to work on the blood but the computer wouldn't let him do anything without doing something with the unknown substance in Marie's blood.

"**You need to name it**," the computer said irritably.

"Oh." Zim thought a moment. "Name it... Blackout."

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Yay! I am finished! woo! that was a long chapter! So what do you think? Sorry about the OCness at the end. That was the only thing that seemed to fit in my mind. I'll try to put up Chapter 6 soon. Still haven't really written it yet. Well, please review! Bye.

(Hi Mickey!)


	6. Skool

Yo! Sorry it took me so long to update. I've just been lazy. I have no good excuses for you. -bows- PLEASE FORGIVE ME! Well, I hope you enjoy. Oh, BTW, I've started a new fic called White Houses. It has some ZADR, just in case you don't like that kind of thing.

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**Chapter Six: Skool**

The summer went on without much more commotion. Dib was depressed for a while, but eventually forgot about Marie. There were numerous Bigfoot "sightings" on the edge of town, so he was busy dealing with that.

Another couple of weeks went by before Zim allowed Marie to roam the house section of the base. She often spent hours staring out the window, absentmindedly picking at the wristband Zim had put on her the first night of her stay.

The first day of skool was looming ever closer and Zim was torn between decisions on what to do with Marie. He couldn't leave her alone in the base; he wasn't absolutely sure he could trust her on her own, plus people might get suspicious if she isn't seen anymore. But he couldn't bring her to skool either. She could go back on whatever vow she would make. Zim had to think hard on this. Finally, after days of pondering, he came up with a solution to the dilemma. After a few minutes of laughing and congratulating himself, Zim calmed down, and, still giggling, went up to the house level.

Once he entered, he almost regretted that he came up with his (brilliant) plan at that exact moment in time. Air-pounding, jolly music greeted Zim even before he entered the kitchen. It was so cheery and so loud that he almost upchucked. Wrapping both his arms and his mechanical spider legs from his Park around his antenna, Zim stumbled into the living room. GIR was standing on the couch, screaming along to the horrible music. The TV was on a impossibly bright channel meant for two-year-olds and had plump, "cute" animals jumping up and down in rhythm to the music.

"**GIR**! Turn it off! Turn the fucking music off now, or, so help me, I'll scatter all your parts across space and blow up any planet they land on!"

Suddenly, it was quiet. No music, no screaming, even the outside world seemed silent with shock. GIR sat stock still on the couch, staring straight ahead with crimson eyes. Zim slowly brought down his arms.

"Thank you," Marie said curtly and turned to head back to the window, not even noticing Zim staring in wide-eyed astonishment. Marie, for the first time during her stay, had threatened GIR. No one, not even Zim himself, had that much control over GIR. She had always seemed happy with the robot and GIR had even told an unwillingly-listening Zim about how they were "best friends."

_But_, Zim thought, _I have to be grateful. If she was just even a little bit angrier, I would not be here. _Zim straightened himself up, shook the shocked expression off his face, and strode over to Marie. He got to her just as she sat down in her chair.

"Oh. Hey, Zim," Marie said, her attention on him instead of the street that she longed to look out at.

"_Hola_, Marie."

She chuckled. "Why the sudden Spanish?"

"No reason. Hey, do you know when the first day of skool is again?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?! I knew it was soon, but not that soon! Come, now! We must get to the lab!" Zim grabbed her arm and dragged her to the kitchen.

"Wha-"

"Quiet! No more talking! There isn't time!" he turned abruptly around, pushed a complicated series of buttons on her wristband and all went black.

---

_Gah! I'm late! _Dib ran down the street at full speed, barely missing pedestrians and cars. He couldn't be late for the first day of skool. After five years of dealing with Mz. Bitters, the stupid skool board had finally given him a new teacher. Mr. Burwell, according to the letter sent to Dib, was a newer teacher. He didn't know what to expect from the man, but he couldn't be late. Like "they" say, you never get a second chance at a first impression.

Finally, after what felt like hours of running, the skool came into view. Thanking what ever God or force is out there, he made a final dash to the skool. As soon as he was within its halls, he finally realized how truly late he was. Other than the random straggler who didn't care enough to be on time, the hallway was empty. In his mad rush to get here on time, he didn't notice the actual time.

"Dammit!" He skidded to a halt right in front of the classroom door, almost drifting past it. He crashed threw the door, practically screaming "Sorry I'm late," and was thumped upside the head by something long and hard. Dib fell from the force of the blow and turned over to see a huge, fat guy with a thick, metal ruler in his hand.

"Okay, class," the big man said, turning to face the class, "do you now understand what happens if you are late to this class?" His voice was rough as sandpaper and menacing like a snake's hiss. The kids, obviously scared to death, all nodded, not daring to say a word. "Now, Dib, why don't you take a seat?"

"Yes, sir." He scrambled to an empty seat that was creepily in the same spot his old desk was.

"Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Mr. Burwell said, "This class will be the hardest you've ever taken." He started pacing the front of the room, talking about how brutal the course was, spitting out random word like "severe" and "of." His rant didn't make much sense, so Dib looked around the room, wanting to see who was in his class. Looking to the right, he wasn't surprised to see Zim, who had been in his class for the past five years, but he was surprised to see Marie. At firs he thought it was some other girl. Even though he hadn't seen her all summer, he could still vividly remember that first day she was here and what she looked like. Who he saw, though, looked almost like Marie's exact opposite. She had long raven black hair and held herself with a confidence only comparable to Zim's. Her clothes were different, too. The old Marie always wore baggy clothes, not enough self-confidence to show off her good looks. This new Marie was wearing tight fitting clothes that showed off a body you would expect see on a cheerleader. The only similarity between the old and new Marie was her eyes. No one had eyes as big and blue as hers, not even manga characters.

"DIB!"

Dib jumped in his seat, facing forward. A big, angry face was only inches from his.

"I would prefer it if you actually pay attention in my class and keep your eyes focused on me, not other students." A few scared snickers were heard from the back of the class.

"Yes, sir."

"I'm glad we've come to an understanding." Mr. Burwell stood up and turned to the chalk board. In small handwriting, he wrote down a page number and topic. "You are to memorize the the first 30 pages of you history books. You will be tested on this first thing tomorrow. Start."

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Phew! That's my longest chapter so far. Sorry again for the wait. I'll start working on the next chapter right after dinner. Does anyone know who the mysterious "they" are? You know, like when people say "They say it's bad luck if a cat crosses your path". You know who I'm talking about? Well, anyway, thanks for sticking with me! Next chapter should be up soon and if it isn't, then you can all shoot me behind the chemical sheds. YAY! 


	7. Lunch meat and Dickheads

Hey again. This is kind of a short chapter. . . but at least I updated sooner than usual! Hope you enjoy this one. I had tons of fun writing it. For some reason, I like torturing Dib. I'm sorry Dib! I still love you!!

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**Chapter 7: Lunch meat and Dick-heads**

After hours of reading and coping down notes, the bell finally rang, dismissing the class to lunch. Dib was greateful not for the break in studying, but also for the chance to talk to Marie for the first time in months. He wouldn't willingly admit it, but he missed her company and felt like he could somewhat understand why she "went to the dark side." Standing up, he looked over to Marie's seat to find that she was not there; neither was Zim. Although all the other kids were still getting up and stretching and Mr. Burwell was at his desk, the door was open.

_Well, that's strange. _What was Marie still doing with Zim? And how did they leave so fast? Curious, Dib walked quickly out the door and down the hallway toward the lunchroom. Whaen he got there, he noticed for the first time how empty it was of kids his age. Most of them dropped out as soon as they could so they could work at malls and McMeaty's. Thankful for this small blessing, Dib scanned the crowds and tables, quickly spotting Marie at his old table. He walked slowly, careful to look for traps from Zim who was sitting at the opposite side of the lunchroom, facing away from them. Still caustious, he sat down across from Marie, making sure he had a good veiw of Zim as well.

"Hello, Dib." Even her voice was different, he noticed. "How was your summer?"

"I've had better.." Dib took his eyes away from the back of Zim's head to look this stranger in the face.

"I would expect so." She smiled slightly. "I'm not sure how to say this gently so I'm just going to be blunt. Don't talk to me anymore."

"What?"

"You heard me. I want you to act like I don't exist. Don't talk to me or even see me unless it is required of you. I'm not the Marie you used to know. Just stay away fromme."

"Why would I want to do that? What's past is past. All I want to do is talk with you."

Her face suddenly softened. "Please Dib. For your sake." For just that moment, she was the Marie Dib met outside school half a year ago. Then her kind eyes turned ice again. "I must go."

"Wait!" Dib stood, reaching out for her as she turned he back toward him. "At least tell me where you're staying. Your old house is empty."

Marie paused and looked back at Dib.

"No."

With that she turned and went to sit next ot Zim. Dib just stared after her, slack-jawed with shock. After a few minutes, he realized how stupid he looked, open mouthed with his hand stretched out. Finally, he turned and calmly walked out the school, not knowing where his destination may be.

. . .

"You're a real dick, ya know that?"

"I may look weird, but I am most definitly not a male's reproductive unit."

"Ha, fucking, ha." Marie crossed her arms and glared up at the small alien on the ledge above.

"No need for the hostility," he mumbled to the far wall, unable to meet her gaze.

"No need for the hostility?! You're impossible! I can't believe you!" Marie's eyes started to well up, but she didn't care anymore. "How could you do that to me? How could you make me do that to Dib? I was starting to think you were actually an okay guy!"

"I hate to 'break it to ya,' but I don't care what you think. All that matters is the mission and I have to be prepared to do whatever I need to complete the mission."

"Oh, well _excuse me!" _Marie yelled, throwing up her hands, "I didn't think of the 'mission' at all! Obviously I should have thought of the 'mission' first and forget all my stupid feelings!"

"Exactly! I'm glad you realized your mistakes." Zim turned to look smugly back at her.

"UGH! You stupid, dim-witted alien! I'm going to my room!" She stomped over to the elevator. "C'mon, GIR."

"Wheee!"

"Was it something I said?"

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This chapter is for Dark-Harichan. Hope you liked it. I'm halfway through the next chapter, so it probably won't take very long to put it up! Sorry again about it's shortness.


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